Economics, environment, mobility, safety

Virtual walking…the future of journey planning?

A new online visual mapping tool has been developed by a start-up company in America*, to provide a tour of places from a pedestrian’s perspective.

An interesting concept, which builds on the idea being developed by Google Earth, but do these applications have a useful purpose, or are they just an interesting tool to play with?

Research** recently published by the RAC Foundation and the British Chambers of Commerce found that the uncertainty of journey end points, often leads business travellers to either drive the whole journey (increasingly with satnav as a companion) or hop in a taxi when they get to their destination on the train. This type of tool could certainly be used to help travellers familiarise themselves with the look and feel of a destination before they arrive, to the extent that less taxi and car journey’s are made. Some may say, what is wrong with a traditional map – nothing of course – but it would be interesting to see these tools used in a way, which helps enhance existing journeys.